Bangladesh, October 17, 2011: An archbishop in Dhaka, Bangladesh, has urged Catholic nurses to uphold Church teachings and maintain good standards in their professional lives during a seminar held over the weekend.

Holy Cross Coadjutor Archbishop Patrick D’Rozario addressed 65 male and female nurses at the event marking World Standards Day on October 15 at the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of Bangladesh in the capital.

“Catholic nurses render pastoral care through their health service to patients. We thank you for your frontline contributions but would like to call upon you to deliver better services in line with Church teachings.”

The prelate further spoke about the general role of Catholics in the country’s health care institutions.

“The Church fully acknowledges your great efforts … and believes you can improve on the delivery of your services. I would like you to maintain and step up your efforts as we have seen in other institutions that standards have fallen.”

Archbishop D’Rozario told nurses to call on priests to administer pastoral care or the sacraments for their terminal patients and advised nurses of other faiths to do the same for their patients by calling on other religious leaders.

Teresa Rebeiro, 73, president of the Bangladesh Catholic Nurses Guild, said that while nurses in the country have improved their academic and technical proficiency, there is still a concern about a decline in the standards of health care.

“In various hospitals and clinics, Christian nurses have taken major roles and have earned a reputation for their service. If they work well, others will follow their lead.”

Fulkumari Rozario, 40, an attendee of the seminar and a practicing nurse, said the archbishop’s advice was useful.

“I have learned today that attending to a patient’s needs is more than a professional duty. It is also a spiritual duty. Even under unfavorable conditions, I will try to evaluate my patients’ states of mind more accurately and encourage others to do the same.”

There are about 12,000 Catholic nurses working in the country, and about 4,000 of them are employed in various health institutions in Dhaka, according to data from the guild.

- ucan

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